The history and practice of Industrial Design in Victoria Australia is my research interest and this blog include posts related to this interest as well as my practice as a designer and design educator.

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Friday, 30 January 2015

Monash Univeristy researcher Ian Wong and Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame designer Robert Pataki discuss the origins of the Kambrook PB-1 power board.

The world's first power board the PB-1 designed in Melbourne by Robert Pataki Design for Kambrook. The powerboard concept was invented by Kambrook in 1972 but it was this design from 1979 that established the configuration that would be adopted worldwide. It was never patented.

The team at Robert Pataki Design at that time included Robert Pataki, Gerry Mussett and Philip Slattery. Gerry Musset recalls working on the detailing of the internal electrical contacts for the PB-1.

This Australia Day when you grab the esky, a stubbie of VB or lob the well worn Kookaburra cricket ball over the fence you would probably know these products are as Australian as a meat pie.

No matter how you choose to celebrate January 26th this year, more than a few of the products you will use were designed in Melbourne and have endured in our globally competitive market.

My research is particularly concerned with products that have endured and the research questions the common view that products are designed for obsolescence. The Decor BYO wine cooler designed in 1979 by Richard Carlson is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and also available today for $22.00 at a store near you.

Designed in Melbourne - Decor BYO Wine cooler designed by Richard Carlson 1979

Australian design icon the Regis glassware range designed by industrial designer Edward Kayser for Crown ACI. The Regis carafe is still in production.

This year it is fifty years since Stuart Devlin AO designed our decimal coins and more than 15,200,000,000 coins have been minted. That is just our coins. Stuart who grew up in Geelong and studied in Melbourne has designed coins for over 30 countries.

Designed in Melbourne - Decimal Coins - Stuart Devlin 1964

If you have a cup of tea with your lamington it is likely the cordless kettle has a round base. In 1994 Gerry Mussett and Paul Taylor working with the Centre for Design team and Kambrook staff created the Axis Eco Kettle with the now universal round base. 'We wanted to bring the kettle to the table and out of the kitchen…..like you would a teapot or water jug.' said Paul Taylor.

Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Ford overnight unveiled the all-new GT, an ultra-high-performance supercar that serves as a technology showcase for top EcoBoost® performance, aerodynamics and lightweight carbon fiber construction.

Australian designer Todd Willing was posted to Detroit two years ago to work on the top secret project, and has since returned to Ford’s design studios in Broadmeadows, where he is now the head of Ford’s Asia-Pacific design team.

The Chevrolet Bolt EV concept car designed by Holden Design in Melbourne Australia was released overnight at the Detroit Motor Show.

“The Bolt EV concept is a game-changing electric vehicle designed for attainability, not exclusivity,” said General Motors CEO Mary Barra. “Chevrolet believes electrification is a pillar of future transportation and needs to be affordable for a wider segment of customers.”

Tuesday, 6 January 2015

Summer vacation each year provides a welcome opportunity to visit antique stores, markets and opp shops seeking items for my collection of products designed in Melbourne Australia.

The Wiltshire staysharp knife has often featured in my exhibitions and blog posts but until yesterday the MK1 designed by Stuart Devlin in 1969 had never appeared on ebay or on the shelves of any opp shop. Just $1 was all I was required to outlay to acquire this very important object for my collection. I had only ever seen one before and that was in the Powehouse Museum collection in Sydney when I visited in 2009.

Original MK1 Wiltshire Staysharp Knife designed in Melbourne by Stuart Devlin based on an invention by Wiltshire design engineer Dennis Jackson.

About Me

Ian Wong is an industrial designer with over twenty five years of professional practice experience. Ian is Program Director - Master of Industrial Design at MADA Monash University. This double masters degree is delivered at the SouthEast University Monash University Joint Graduate School (Suzhou) in China. Ian has worked previously as design manager for Outerspace Design and Silvan Australia, and lectured also at RMIT and Swinburne Universities. Ian is a councilor of the Design Institute of Australia and President of Melbourne Movement.